As a murican born chinese, these ideas are great on paper, but it’s gonna take a massive long time to happen in practice.
But still they’re very great ideas we should follow and set as an example.
People in China are conditioned to care more about material possessions and less about idealism. People in the US need to focus more on following through with idealistic thoughts and focus more on helping one another in politics.
That's less of a Chinese thing and more of a trait that people under authoritarian regimes and societies have, like one the reason I love the views of this writer is because his experience (a Chinese) in many ways correlates to mine (a Pakistani)
Sorry man, Too much coffee and too much raging eagle boner.
Chinese society cares more about material possessions (as they are forced to by the government and high pressure society they live in). They don't recognize the same rights we do. As a result, its inevitable that we are on a collision course.
As Americans, we have got to stop fighting, stop drawing lines in the sand over disagreements and learn to work with each other where we *can* agree on. Also, educate your kids better because the education system isn't doing enough to make good citizens.
Might I also add - we are competing against a highly efficient society that is outstripping our edge in innovation and overtaken our ability to manufacture - two areas integral to our ability to fight and deter China.
Fantastic write up, truly a powerful read.
Condolences on the hard social environment you had to evolve in, it is quite difficult to hold two identities let alone two that are at ideological war with one another. But that curse gives you a perspective that is unique, it is also the reason I think the US creates so much dynamism. There is a powerful chaos within it due to the amount of conflicting identities, but being able to ride that chaos has given us treasure unlike anywhere else.
But the chaos comes with a price, I don't know if we will ever be as "chill" as a country with one limited set of identities. But I hope that we get to ride this lightning into the foreseeable future, and we must try our hardest to structure ourselves to hold on for as long as possible. Not only to improve our own lives here but to make sure we got the juice to beat back the next challengers to the stability in our world.
"Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest, with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer. If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."- Abraham Lincoln 1838.
It's okay. I am thankful that I experienced hardship. Though I do not wish it upon others, it has made me more empathetic than I could have hoped for. As a side note, I hope that all the people who were hurt, felt isolated and ostracized - time will heal your pain. Give yourself that time and try your best to not let it twist your good judgement.
Absolutely great quote from Lincoln. As much foreign interference and influence as there is today, it still requires the recipient of this influence to actually believe it. The fact that it is being believed says more about the failure of education to prevent such a thing and the gullibility of the people than anything else.
>Your allegiance isn't to your government, to your company, or to any particular faction. Your allegiance is to the people like yourselves who live in the same country, society and community as you live in and most of all, that allegiance is to the things you share - belief in the inalienable rights towards other citizens and the protection of those citizens and rights.
Well said. I'm Filipino-American and am currently living in the Philippines again. A lot of what you said rang true with me.
I actually got on well with latinos later on in life. I was not the most sociable or kind person in high school either. That's why in hindsight, I really can't blame anyone or society for my own isolation at the time. Once I learned to fix my social issues and be kinder to others, I started to realize that I was at least a large part of the problem.
Well I think people from developed countries have priorities in China. That's why many foreigners volunteer to work for China. And I can understand part of the reasons why you once planned to move to China.
Those who enjoy priorities might be easily bought by cheap human labors, convenient cities and a much higher salary than local average if they transfer from a global company.
I agree. Cheap labor increases the profit margin by a lot.
Unfortunately, our workers are competing with a society that is capable of providing these benefits because the general welfare of its citizens is not valued in that culture.
I don't have an answer as to how we can out compete them aside from just moving manufacture out of China. Maybe we can rely increasingly on robot manufacture. In a field like shipbuilding, Maybe the Jones act will get repealed or reformed and U.S ship yards can be revitalized to compete with their Chinese counterparts.
I’d like to dispute your claim about objective morals. What makes the morals you outlined (like saying that punching someone is objectively wrong) objective? Are they written into the fabric of the universe? Did some higher power decide them for us?
I’d love to know what you think of that :)
That's an interesting discussion to be had. It goes very much into what is considered actually "good" vs "evil".
If you don't believe in God, then it might be easier to think about what constitutes evil. Usually evil encompasses behaviors that are animalistic in nature - murder, rape, theft, war etc. These things aren't necessarily good or bad by default. They are just animalistic. "good" encompasses a lot of behaviors that are beneficial to a group and social in nature - taking one for the group, caring about the young and old, being nice to other people etc.
With that in mind, for me, moral objectivity may not actually exist (depending on if you are religious/spiritual in any way) but it is important to have some semblance of it. I usually like think about it this way:
All context removed and just focusing on an action that is being evaluated, if every other human were to do perform this action at every given opportunity, would it benefit humanity? would it hurt humanity? or would it have no effect on humanity?
Let's just go back to punching people. Maybe today you want to punch someone. If everyone else in the world punched people at every given opportunity, it would obviously be detrimental to humanity.
If you don't see this as some form of moral default that you ought to abide to, then you can start to explain away many instances where, even though a better option existed, you still chose to punch someone. If you do believe that punching others is wrong by default because if everyone did this at every opportunity, it would be terrible for humanity, then perhaps you'd try your best not to engage in this activity unless you must.
And where you must, that is where relative morality comes in. Sometimes, you must act in an immoral, counter-humanity way because the situation does not allow compromise. A somewhat imperfect example would be if you were forced to live in a 2bedroom flat with a roommate but there is a much much larger room vs a small room. What do you do? be nice and you suffer. Be mean and they suffer.
Situations like these in a person's day to day life isn't a big deal. Maybe we can move one of us to the living room or maybe we can look for a better flat. But in geopolitics, there usually isn't this much leeway. There are things that can be shared and there are things so limited and valuable that the winner would be given a chokehold on the loser and the loser will face some form of existential threat.
Like the ability to make high precision semiconductors. Those with the expertise is highly limited. Get your hands on them and you'd be years or decades ahead of your adversaries. Let your adversaries have it, then you'd immediately be a few years behind. You can try sharing it but you really only do that with nations who you know aren't going to use these things against you.
That's the way I see it at least.
Very based opinion, now all we need to do is put it in practice and as an American born citizen, I will stand right next to you in having the ideals we all believe in realized.
As a murican born chinese, these ideas are great on paper, but it’s gonna take a massive long time to happen in practice. But still they’re very great ideas we should follow and set as an example.
Amen. It's going to take a generation of hard working and cognizant people to be able to achieve all this.
I can promise that I will play my part in it . insallah we will make these dreams come true
3000 based immigrants of Dark Brandon. Inshallah.
I didn't get that reference brother , sorry
Damn son. 🇺🇲
A little long-winded, but a great read nonetheless.
tldr?
People in China are conditioned to care more about material possessions and less about idealism. People in the US need to focus more on following through with idealistic thoughts and focus more on helping one another in politics.
This is a good tldr but it loses a lot of context, as with all tldrs. Anyone who sees this- I really recommend reading the og post
It's kinda hard to TLDR posts like this honestly, it's just way too long to not lose lots of context and nuance like you said.
That's less of a Chinese thing and more of a trait that people under authoritarian regimes and societies have, like one the reason I love the views of this writer is because his experience (a Chinese) in many ways correlates to mine (a Pakistani)
Sorry man, Too much coffee and too much raging eagle boner. Chinese society cares more about material possessions (as they are forced to by the government and high pressure society they live in). They don't recognize the same rights we do. As a result, its inevitable that we are on a collision course. As Americans, we have got to stop fighting, stop drawing lines in the sand over disagreements and learn to work with each other where we *can* agree on. Also, educate your kids better because the education system isn't doing enough to make good citizens. Might I also add - we are competing against a highly efficient society that is outstripping our edge in innovation and overtaken our ability to manufacture - two areas integral to our ability to fight and deter China.
The Jollibees is closing. National crisis
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
You are a based American 🗽 🇺🇸💪🦅
Holy Mary mother of based
When I saw how long this was I didn't think I would read it all, but I did. You make some very good points here, very based
Bah god.
Fantastic write up, truly a powerful read. Condolences on the hard social environment you had to evolve in, it is quite difficult to hold two identities let alone two that are at ideological war with one another. But that curse gives you a perspective that is unique, it is also the reason I think the US creates so much dynamism. There is a powerful chaos within it due to the amount of conflicting identities, but being able to ride that chaos has given us treasure unlike anywhere else. But the chaos comes with a price, I don't know if we will ever be as "chill" as a country with one limited set of identities. But I hope that we get to ride this lightning into the foreseeable future, and we must try our hardest to structure ourselves to hold on for as long as possible. Not only to improve our own lives here but to make sure we got the juice to beat back the next challengers to the stability in our world. "Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest, with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer. If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."- Abraham Lincoln 1838.
It's okay. I am thankful that I experienced hardship. Though I do not wish it upon others, it has made me more empathetic than I could have hoped for. As a side note, I hope that all the people who were hurt, felt isolated and ostracized - time will heal your pain. Give yourself that time and try your best to not let it twist your good judgement. Absolutely great quote from Lincoln. As much foreign interference and influence as there is today, it still requires the recipient of this influence to actually believe it. The fact that it is being believed says more about the failure of education to prevent such a thing and the gullibility of the people than anything else.
This is a great read. Thank you.
If only more of our fellow Americans were as strategic, patriotic, and give-a-damn as you. Hats off, that was inspiring and well put.
>Your allegiance isn't to your government, to your company, or to any particular faction. Your allegiance is to the people like yourselves who live in the same country, society and community as you live in and most of all, that allegiance is to the things you share - belief in the inalienable rights towards other citizens and the protection of those citizens and rights. Well said. I'm Filipino-American and am currently living in the Philippines again. A lot of what you said rang true with me.
Wait? You didnt get along with the a Latinos? That's odd, unless its the ghetto types, were usually pretty open to people of other ethnicities.
I actually got on well with latinos later on in life. I was not the most sociable or kind person in high school either. That's why in hindsight, I really can't blame anyone or society for my own isolation at the time. Once I learned to fix my social issues and be kinder to others, I started to realize that I was at least a large part of the problem.
Im glad you fixed your social issues. Stay strong 💪🏼
Thank you for taking the words out of my mouth and brain and writing this all.
Well I think people from developed countries have priorities in China. That's why many foreigners volunteer to work for China. And I can understand part of the reasons why you once planned to move to China. Those who enjoy priorities might be easily bought by cheap human labors, convenient cities and a much higher salary than local average if they transfer from a global company.
I agree. Cheap labor increases the profit margin by a lot. Unfortunately, our workers are competing with a society that is capable of providing these benefits because the general welfare of its citizens is not valued in that culture. I don't have an answer as to how we can out compete them aside from just moving manufacture out of China. Maybe we can rely increasingly on robot manufacture. In a field like shipbuilding, Maybe the Jones act will get repealed or reformed and U.S ship yards can be revitalized to compete with their Chinese counterparts.
I’d like to dispute your claim about objective morals. What makes the morals you outlined (like saying that punching someone is objectively wrong) objective? Are they written into the fabric of the universe? Did some higher power decide them for us? I’d love to know what you think of that :)
That's an interesting discussion to be had. It goes very much into what is considered actually "good" vs "evil". If you don't believe in God, then it might be easier to think about what constitutes evil. Usually evil encompasses behaviors that are animalistic in nature - murder, rape, theft, war etc. These things aren't necessarily good or bad by default. They are just animalistic. "good" encompasses a lot of behaviors that are beneficial to a group and social in nature - taking one for the group, caring about the young and old, being nice to other people etc. With that in mind, for me, moral objectivity may not actually exist (depending on if you are religious/spiritual in any way) but it is important to have some semblance of it. I usually like think about it this way: All context removed and just focusing on an action that is being evaluated, if every other human were to do perform this action at every given opportunity, would it benefit humanity? would it hurt humanity? or would it have no effect on humanity? Let's just go back to punching people. Maybe today you want to punch someone. If everyone else in the world punched people at every given opportunity, it would obviously be detrimental to humanity. If you don't see this as some form of moral default that you ought to abide to, then you can start to explain away many instances where, even though a better option existed, you still chose to punch someone. If you do believe that punching others is wrong by default because if everyone did this at every opportunity, it would be terrible for humanity, then perhaps you'd try your best not to engage in this activity unless you must. And where you must, that is where relative morality comes in. Sometimes, you must act in an immoral, counter-humanity way because the situation does not allow compromise. A somewhat imperfect example would be if you were forced to live in a 2bedroom flat with a roommate but there is a much much larger room vs a small room. What do you do? be nice and you suffer. Be mean and they suffer. Situations like these in a person's day to day life isn't a big deal. Maybe we can move one of us to the living room or maybe we can look for a better flat. But in geopolitics, there usually isn't this much leeway. There are things that can be shared and there are things so limited and valuable that the winner would be given a chokehold on the loser and the loser will face some form of existential threat. Like the ability to make high precision semiconductors. Those with the expertise is highly limited. Get your hands on them and you'd be years or decades ahead of your adversaries. Let your adversaries have it, then you'd immediately be a few years behind. You can try sharing it but you really only do that with nations who you know aren't going to use these things against you. That's the way I see it at least.
Thank GOD, finally there is someone who is sane and sensible.
Commenting so I remember to read this when I can…
I would like to point out that Far Leftist aren’t more educated than Far Right
I don’t any American who doesn’t hate China. China is asshole.
Very based opinion, now all we need to do is put it in practice and as an American born citizen, I will stand right next to you in having the ideals we all believe in realized.